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Sunday, December 02, 2012

In order to refute Aristotle’s claim that the speed of a falling object is dictated by its mass, Galileo devised a simple thought experiment:

According to Aristotelian logic, if a light object and a heavy object were tied together and dropped off a tower, then the heavier object would fall faster, and the rope between the two would become taut. This would allow the lighter object to create drag and slow the heavy one down. But Galileo reasoned that once this occurs, the weight of the two objects together should be heavier than the weight of either one by itself, therefore making the system as a whole fall faster. This contradiction proved that Aristotle’s hypothesis was wrong.

One of the most famous stories about Galileo is that he once dropped two metal balls off the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove that heavier objects do not fall faster than lighter ones. In actuality, this story is probably just a legend. However an astronaut did perform this famous Galileo test with a hammer and a feather in vacuum with low gravity on the surface of the moon (see video below).

So what can I learn from this thought experiment? As a Computer Science researcher, many times it is easier for me to just sit down and code up experiments. But sometimes it might be a good idea to stand up and then write down the math formulations on the whiteboard. Simplifying the math calculations or jog down some proofs can actually dramatically reduce the amount of coding I have to do and also improve the performance of my algorithms. Of course, if I could do all these in my head it would be wonderful, but I am no Galileo, and I also have severe short-term memory deficit -- a strong sign and that I am almost ready to graduate!

Saturday, December 01, 2012

The First Constitution and the Wildlife
Protection Act were, in a sense, the strictest and the two most enforced laws
among all Federation laws. They also happened to be the top two on repair shop
owner Feng Yu’s most-hated-laws list.

The origin of the First Constitution went
way beyond the earliest historical records still in existence. Although it contained
laws on the very sensitive issue of privacy protection, citizens of the
Federation seemed to have grown quite used to it many years ago. No one ever
questioned it. Perhaps the slow but steady development of civilization over the
past hundreds of thousands of years inevitably buried many truths in the dark
shadows of history.

The Wildlife Protection Act turned out to be
another myth in Federation history. Many social activists still couldn’t figure
out why, in all the territories of the Federation, the importance of wild
animals and natural vegetation far exceeded that of the human. With the
exception of mining, the Federation government had always limited its operations
in planet surface alterations; as if there was an invisible hand that always
pushed civilization in the direction of a harmonious co-existence with the
natural environment.

Electric fences, common on every planet, separated
massive regions outside of the cities and safely guarded the wild animals. Any
poaching acts would result in the severest punishment from the Federation
Administrative Committee. But there was a problem: coexistence as such could
not be harmonious, particularly for people like Xu Le and Feng Yu who were
particularly fond of natural meat – how can one be in a good mood when he can’t
put meat in his mouth?

Although synthetic food these days could
already achieve rich tastes and flavors, some people simply couldn’t get rid of
things deeply seeded in their intuition, such as the passion for all-natural
food.

“We’d better be careful this time. HTD
agents raided the entire black market after we killed that bull half a year
ago. For four days no one could buy any wild meat in the entire city. Luckily
no one knew that we did it. Otherwise, we could do three months in jail…,” Xu
Le reminded Feng Yu as he cautiously followed the uncle toward the electric
fence, his heart still fluttering with fear.

“If the HTD is truly
so incorruptible, …[cough, cough]…,” the repair shop owner ridiculed in between
coughs. He threw the cigarette butt to the ground and then stubbed it out with
his feet before continuing, “Where do you think all that rabbit meat or lamb on
Bell-Tower Street’s black market came from?”

“But what we
killed was…a wild buffalo.” Xu Le apparently never got over the fear. “No one
dared to sell that stuff for years.”

“We didn’t sell it
to the black market,” with a swift swing of his arm, Feng Yu said decisively.
“Even if we get arrested by the HTD, it’ll be probation at most.”

HTD stood for the
High council of national Territory space ocean and earth Division. Although the name sounded terrifying, it was
just a special agency set up by the Federation government according to the
Wildlife Protection Act. It certainly had plenty of authority.

……

……

The two of them
stared at the leisurely wandering buffalo across the electric fence and stopped
next to the metal isolation guardrails. The wild buffalo obviously were not
afraid of the humans on the other side of the fence. During their daily walks
they could frequently spot these pitiful two-legged creatures locked inside the
fence. Only that it had been many years since they last had close contact with
these creatures. Today was different. The alpha bull of the herd could clearly
sense the hostility radiated from the two humans on the other side. He lifted
his giant head vigilantly with arrogance, and the agitation grew stronger and
stronger in his eyes.

Xu Le was still
pondering about the legal consequences when he noticed the lead wild buffalo’s
provocative and defiant look. He couldn’t help but feeling a bit mad. All I
ever wanted was some meat from you; did you really have to look at me with that
much disdain? He thought to himself.

“Moo…Moo…,” Feng
Yu suddenly roared in the direction of the electric fence, imitating the sounds
of a wild buffalo. The alpha bull of the buffalo herd was instantly enraged and
charged toward the electric fence. In the next second Feng Yu and Xu Le began
running in full speed alongside the electric fence, until they led the raging
bull to the foot of a small hill far from the mine pit.

While running as
fast as he could and panting just as fast, Xu Le felt the utmost admiration
toward the slightly clumsy figure running in front of him. “What a weirdo my
boss is!” he thought to himself, “He can even enrage a wild buffalo without any
effort! No wonder during the first few months of getting to know him I had
always found myself in such a great rage that I would completely lose my appetite.”

……

……

At the hillside,
Feng Yu stood on one side of the electric fence and spat in the direction of
the buffalo on the other side, both of his hands on his hips. He fixed his gaze
on the two sharp horns and the hoof that was still angrily digging the dirt
underneath it. Clearly the bull was quite exhausted. Panting heavily, he
exclaimed.

“No worries! These
buffalo have been locked out for hundreds of thousands of years. They learned
their lesson a long time ago. No buffalo dares to bang the fence.”

Xu Le leaned
against the fence and nodded torpidly. The electric fences on the planet were
all made of special alloy embedded with management chips inside. If the fence
were hit with excessive force, it would automatically release a high voltage
electric current. Many years had passed since the fences were put in place; the
fences withstood countless windstorms and rainstorms, but showed no sign of
rusty stains or scratch marks from hits and clashes. It wouldn’t be hard to
imagine their level of endurance.

“Same rules! You
kill the bull, I watch your back,” Uncle Feng Yu directed as if that was how it
ought to be.

“Errr….”

Xu Le eventually
accepted his fate. He stepped next to the electric fence gloomily. Maybe driven
by subconscious, he reached back and touched the chip on the back of his neck,
wondering in his mind whether the electrical surveillance net would notice a
small blip in signal strength.

After all, he had
jumped the electric fence three times before. Therefore Xu Le wasn’t as worried
as a typical criminal. He took a deep breath, spat on his palms, and then
instantly turned into a monkey. With extraordinary speed and extremely agile
techniques, he climbed over the fence with ease.

……

……

“Not bad at all!” Feng Yu sat on a slope and watched
with a smile on his face. “If the recruiter in charge of the Department of
Defense Draft Exam is not totally blind, he would for sure recognize the talent
and strength of this young lad in no time,” he thought to himself.

If citizens of the
Federation ever found out that someone was capable of jumping the electric
fence, the one nicknamed Wall of Tears by the black market peddlers, without
decrypting and disabling it first, they would be shocked speechless. The
electronic surveillance of the Federation was everywhere. When this young lad
entered an unauthorized territory, how come the chip at the back of his neck
didn’t send an electric pulse and the surveillance system didn’t react?

Xu Le had no idea
that his easy jump, as smooth as the past ones, was such a devastating blow to
the First Constitution and Federation society. Nor did he notice that in the
palm of that military deserter, the owner of the repair shop, a small device
kept emitting a very dim blue light, which completely enveloped the two of them
together with that raging bull.

Only on large
grasslands could a bull roam freely. Locking a bull inside an iron cage would
only infuriate him.

Of course hostile
intentions from humans could also easily infuriate a bull. As soon as Xu Le’s
feet touched the grass outside of the electric fence, the dark brown raging
bull immediately charged toward him, the mane on the back of its neck fluttered
in the wind with a magnificent curve.

Xu Le could feel
fear brewing inside his chest. His face turned slightly pale but he remained
calm. When the sharp horns of the bull were only one meter from his chest, he
suddenly rotated his left ankle and leaned sideways. Meanwhile his right hand
reached toward the giant torso of the bull.

With a loud ZAP,
blue electric arcs flashed in the air. Having no way to change the direction of
its momentum, the bull barely missed Xu Le and took a straight hit from that
delicate yet powerful electric prod.

BOOM,
the bull collapsed to the ground, sending a puff of dirt and grass into the
air. Xu Le walked toward it, his face covered with no excitement but caution.

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